When I was a kid a diagnosis of Aspergers or Autistic Spectrum wasn't in the picture. It was common for outsiders who noticed I was strange to blame it on my mom's parenting, so little did they know. It's similar to people who get upset today by leashes on toddlers. They've obviously never had to keep a little runner-climber alive.
I did get speech therapy in kindergarten through second grade. (I entered kindergarten reading well so I skipped that part of class to see the therapists.) I also got some kind of "posture" therapy because I was a klutz. If I wasn't damaging myself, I was damaging some other kid by knocking them down or falling on them. For a time I was banned from the schoolyard swings and "monkey bars." This was public school in the 'sixties so even if the problem was unnamed the therapy was appropriate.
As in adult I have a doctor diagnosis, and I've had several years on and off of "talk" and group therapy. I can "fake it" in social situations but lately it seems to take more out of me. I'm tired of faking it. The most difficult job I ever took was as big city public school science teacher, yes, I was that good at faking it. I didn't feel like a good teacher however because I don't naturally "read" people. A good teacher identifies potential trouble and deals with it before it escalates but is otherwise easygoing. To maintain discipline, especially in troubled, crowded, big city environments I had to be an authoritarian and I hated that. The next job I took went to the other extreme, working largely alone nights and weekends in a big medical building that was always full of people during regular working hours.
Modern medications are helpful dealing with the OCD, depression, and other symptoms. Unfortunately they are never perfect, either the effectiveness fading, or the side effects becoming less tolerable. I've quit meds a few times and revisited my dark place. I've also suffered meds that made me feel dull, unwell, itchy, twitchy, obliterated my libido...
I'm married to a high intensity woman. Maybe we compliment one another, but not always in a good way. Our kids were straight "A" students in high school and accepted to very good colleges. Our youngest child will graduate this year.
I'm not a good judge of my own mental state, especially as it relates to the rest of society. In my "natural" state I'm a hermit. Without meds it's a very, very dark place.
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